Full guide to surviving sleeper buses in Asia

We’ve all heard the horror stories from other backpackers and people on social media about the horrific experiences on the notorious South East Asia sleeper buses. From sharing beds with strangers, to being forced to sit in the aisles, they really don’t have a good reputation. After using them myself, I can say a lot of it is true, however there are a few things you can do to make your experience just a little better.

Layers

If you’re taking a bus with a large portion in the day time, I would recommend bringing layers on board with you but not wearing them on the bus. While the A/C can feel like -20°C sometimes at night, during daylight hours, buses can actually get really warm because of the sunlight coming through the windows. The curtains on a lot of buses aren’t much more than those white mesh privacy curtains you get in hotels. This does absolutely nothing at blocking out the heat from the suns rays and if you’re wearing too many layers it makes for a very unpleasant journey. I suggest bringing layers you can easily slip on over other clothes. However if it’s predominantly a night bus, I suggest wearing the layers from the start as like I said, it gets freezing sometimes.

Eyemask

The lights on buses often seem to have a mind of their own, turning on and off on different brightness settings with no warning or reason. Often other passengers will be doing who knows what with their phone brightness all the way up or turning on the overhead lights which is out of your control. Even if the eyemask you use is the freebie you got on a plane, it’ll help cut out so much light to help you sleep as much as possible.

Take the timings with a pinch of salt

We have never actually had any form of bus/mini bus arrive on time, and we’ve caught a lot of them. Often the booking will say +- 30 minutes of the scheduled time, but we’ve caught buses leaving 2 hours behind schedule. This also means, it’s best to not arrange anything too tight on a limit at the other end because who knows when you’ll actually arrive. If you are able to get a hotel transfer through your accommodation, it’s always best to get a WhatsApp to communicate the timings as and when they happen.

Earplugs

I am yet to find earplug that actually fit in my ears, but I’ve heard from many people that the LOOP brand work really well (just not for people who can’t use those squishy earbuds like me). I tend to use either my AirPods, wired headphones or preferable over the ear headphones. Buses can get really noisy, whether it be the engines, screaming babies, snoring or people loudly making travel plans with others on the bus. And there’s almost always someone who chooses the most inconvenient time to FaceTime someone from home with poor connectivity so they’re shouting down the phone (seriously, why do people do this!!). If you’re hoping for some peaceful sleep, something to block out the noise is essential.

Snacks and water

I feel like this is obvious, but always have plenty of snacks on hand because you most likely won’t get anything provided. Usually there’s a stop about halfway for toilets etc but the food can be questionable or just not exist. If you’re lucky, you may get provided with some crackers and maybe some water but that’s not to be expected. With the water, I would recommend bringing a litre at least per person, however, most buses don’t have toilets and only stop once so just keep that in mind when consuming liquids.

Power banks

There are almost never any chargers on sleeper buses, you’re very lucky if you can find one. When you get to your destination, you do not want to be left with a completely dead phone with no way to contact people or find your accommodation. Especially if you’re a solo traveller. We got caught out crossing the border from Chiang Rai Thailand to Luang Prabang Laos (but we also had no local money which was not a smart move).

Travel sickness medication

I don’t get very travel sick, however I ALWAYS take travel sickness medication before any long journey. I personally recommend Kwells (I don’t know if it’s just a UK brand) as they work the best I’ve found, however I also recommend using ginger root tablets from a natural foods shop. You can also find ginger root tablets in some Asian pharmacies. Reilly was really ill on one of our sleeper bus journeys, having caught an awful flu a few days before. He used a herbal inhaler/roll-on stick we’d bought after his bout of altitude sickness in Indonesia and it worked a treat and would highly recommend to anyone who struggles with motion sickness. It’s similar to the pots and inhalers you see the Thai locals obsessed with which also work equally as well.